Aftermath
by supernaturallyscrewed
Summary: Directly following the events of 8x23 'Sacrifice' Basically my version of season 9, DESTIEL SABRIEL Characters: Dean.W, Sam.W, Castiel, Gabriel, Crowley, Kevin.T
1. Chapter 1

Dean looked from the sky back to his brother, "It's okay Sammy, It's going to be okay." He reassured as he pulled the younger Winchester up onto his feet. "We have to find Cas." Dean added under his breath.

"Dean..." Sam started, but was cut of by a loud splash as another angel collided with the surface of the nearby water. Dean placed his brother in the passenger seat of the Impala as gently as possible, before heading back towards the barn they had left Crowley in. An angel must have landed close enough to the abandoned building for it to catch alight. Dean could hardly breath amongst the smoke.

"Crowley!" He called choking on the rotten air.

"Dean?" Panic laced the demons voice, "You came back for me!" He sounded almost giddy at that fact. Dean approached the fallen chair that Crowley was chained to, trying to detach the man from his bounds without releasing him from the handcuffs, still not trusting the demon not to try anything. A burning rafter fell mearly inches from where he was working and Crowley shouted in alarm. "Get them off! Get them off!" Dean saw no other option; he released the demon, keeping Ruby's knife ready just in case. Crowley seemed content to stay with the elder Winchester, so Dean focused on getting out of the flaming shed.

Once outside Dean proceeded to throw Crowley in the trunk of his car, the devils trap drawn on the hood keeping him in place. A treatment to which the demon responded by saying "I can't believe you would betray me like this Maureen!" If Crowley had been referring to a television show, it was not something either hunter had seen, not that Sam had commented on the matter. Looking at his brother, Dean could see just how weak the trials had made him.

"It's all right Sam, we'll find Cas and he can fix you up real good. You'll be good as new." Dean was speaking mostly for his own benefit, but Sam replied anyway,

"Dean, even if we do find Castiel, I doubt he will be able to help." Sam uttered through raggered breaths.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Dean admitted, thinking his younger brother couldn't hear him.

* * *

_This is my first attempt at writing FF so please be nice, I have no beta, my mistakes are my own. Please review my first chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

After driving for 15 minutes, Dean realised that he had no clue where he was going, all he knew was that he had to get away from the barn, but he had done that, so now what? He turned on the radio, turning to his brother as he did so, he was looking better, better than he had in the barn at least. His eyes looked less haunted and his arms had stopped glowing. Whether the latter was a good thing or not Dean didn't know. He had been hoping to find the out extent of the angel problem when he'd turned on the radio, but what he heard only distressed him further. "Its a miracle, she had wings! Wings I'm tellin' you! And they were burning!" The southern drawl dripped from his speakers. Dean quickly changed the station,  
"Sightings have been confirmed in Russia, Asia, most of Western Europe, Greenland and even Australia. No-one knows where these winged people came from, but some are calling them 'Fallen Angels'." Dean scoffed in bitter amusement at how close to the truth the reporter really was and changed the chanel once more.

**It was the heat of the moment  
The heat of the moment  
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes**

Sam slapped the radio off with one of what Dean had dubbed his 'bitchfaces' and Dean would have laughed if he had not been so worried about his little (or not so little anymore) brother. Both their heads snapped up in surprise when the radio came back on.

**Heat of the moment  
Heat of the moment  
Heat of the moment...**

Dean cursed himself for not getting any weapons out when he put Crowley in the trunk, he still had Ruby's knife, but he doubted one knife could be very helpful considering any number of situations they could be in right now.

"Maybe the Angels are screwing up the radio?" Sam speculated hopefully, not really believing the words even as they left his mouth.

"Hiya boys, did you miss me?" Dean swerved the car dangerously and cursed while Sam just stared at the obviously-not-dead-ex-arch-angel that was sitting in the back seat.

"Gabriel." Was all Sam could say before he fainted.

* * *

_As some of you probably recognised, I got the idea for this chapter from a tumblr post that can be seen here ( p/488038492585872166_230479881) I also apparently need a disclaimer __**I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters. **__Thankyou all for reading and please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

"What's wrong with him?" Gabriel asked anxiously, obviously unaware of the shitstorm that had been their lives for the last few years.

"Man, you won't believe what you've missed"

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"So what happened to you?" Dean asked after briefly filling Gabriel in on the events of the last three years, starting with putting Lucifer back in the cage and ending with convincing Sam not to go through with the trials. Sam had remained unconscious for the entire story, but thanks to Gabriel he was breathing normally.

"After you left with Kali, I made it clear to my brother that I wasn't on his or Michael's side, I was on yours." Risking a look at Dean "Yours, the human race, you know what I mean." Dean nodded "Anyway, while I was making this speech, the real me was sneaking up behind Lucifer with my arch-angel blade. He turned around and stabbed me with it."

"Ouch." Dean grimaced sympathetically.

"Tell me about it, so after that I woke up in some weird bunker with a guy claiming to be a prophet saying 'You have to warn the Winchesters, the Angel Trials are fake it's actually a spell that expels all angels from heaven." Gabriel glanced out the window, "I take it you figured that much out?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, we did."


	4. Chapter 4

When Sam woke up, he was lying on the backseat of the Impala, he moaned and rolled over, head facing the roof. "Um, guys..." a voice from the seat next to him.

"Shut up Crowley." Dean's voice responded.

**_Crowley?_**

"Look, all I'm saying," He continued "Is that you use whatever angel mojo you have, and help us find Cas!"

"Dean look, even if I was strong enough to access my 'angel mojo' when there are no fucking angels left! I wouldn't be able to find him, if what you told me is true, then the spell Metatron cast would have involved taking Castiel's grace."

"How do you know that?" Dean's voice laced with worry,

"The ingredients! All of them are, essentially an angels grace! Think about it, the heart of a Nephlim, the bow of a Cupid." The Archangel didn't get to finish his point because he was interrupted by a very confused and very pissed off hunter

"Cas took a Nephlim's heart?"

Gabriel sighed "Most likely, it's the only spell powerful enough to cast all the angels out of heaven."

"So Metatron took his grace, Cas is human?" Dean asked

"Essentially, yes."

"That's all the more reason to find him! I've seen Cas without his powers before, he was weak, a regular demon got the drop on him! We need to make sure he's okay! Dean's voice was growing increasingly agitated.

"We can't, if Castiel is alive, and that's a big if, we won't be able to find him. And driving around aimlessly in the middle of nowhere is not going to help! That's why I suggested going back to the bunker!" Gabriel's voice was exasperated, as if he had already mentioned this point, knowing Dean, he probably had. "We can regroup, and there is a chance that Castiel will find us." Gabriel put up a finger to stop Dean from interrupting once more. "If I was looking for the Winchesters, the first place I would go was wherever the current apocalypse was going down, but the second place, would be where they live. If Castiel wants to find you, that's where he will look."

"Squirrel, this is important!" Crowley persisted.

"What!?" Dean yelled, taking his frustrations out on the demon.

"The Moose is awake."


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the drive had mostly consisted of Dean and Gabriel fussing over Sam. When Sam changed his position in the backseat (which he was still sitting in because Crowley almost started crying when he tried to move) Gabriel was leaning over, asking if he was okay, checking his temperature, he actually got a thermometer out! Everything he said either upset Cowley (the guy was like a hormonal teenage girl) or caused Dean to get that worried look in his eyes, like he was just waiting for Sam to break. So, Sam had decided to sleep through the trip, he trusted Dean to wake him if their was anything he needed to hear. He was still pretty sick from the trials, but he was feeling a lot better, Sam suspected he had Gabriel to thank for that.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

The second time Sam woke up, he had seen glimpses of Kevin's worried face before he quickly lost consciousness. The third time he woke up, he was laying in a bed. By the forth time, Sam had had enough sleep to last him a week, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, glancing around the room. The first thing he noticed was that he was in his bedroom, in the bunker the Men of Letters set up, the only place that had ever felt like home to Sam. The second thing Sam noticed, was that he was not alone.

"It's about time you woke up, I was beginning to think you would sleep forever!" Gabriel's tone sounded playful, but one look at him and you could tell he wasn't kidding. He looked sick with worry and the bags around his eyes suggested that he hadn't slept for a while. The Archangels hair was pushed over his eyes, but he still wore that devilish grin, he had the kind of smile that made even the best people wonder what he had done this time, but Sam still found it strangely enduring. "Just gonna stare at me all day? C'mon Sasquatch lets go see if Kevin has killed Crowley yet." The comment left the younger Winchester wondering just how long he'd been asleep.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"You killed my mom!"

"I know."

"You killed my MOM!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Kevin knock it off for a minute will you?" Gabriel yelled, exasperated. Then to Sam he said, "They haven't shut up since we got here, it's doing my head in." He shook his head and sat at the table that was still glowing with red lights.

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked noticing he wasn't in the room.

"There." Gabriel stated, pointing at the only yellow light on the map. "He left two days ago, thinks it might be Castiel."

"Wait, two days? How long have I been out?" Sam inquired, confused

Gabriel laughed "About a week now."


	6. Chapter 6

_Guys if you haven't already checked I added some more to the end of the last chapter, it won't make sense if you haven't read it. I'm sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, it was one of those stories where I kept changing my mind and erasing everything I had written. It's nice and long to compensate. So, again, sorry about that I'll have the next few chapters up a lot faster. Thankyou to __**FireChildSlytherin**__ and __**Lucy**__ for reviewing my last chapter._

Castiel didn't know how long he had been staring at the sky. At some point the sun had risen, as far as he could tell it was about mid afternoon. Castiel knew he should get up, should go and do something to help fix all this, but he didn't know what he could do.

Castiel needed to find Dean. To apologise, for failing him. For allowing himself to be so easily used. For not listening to the hunter when it mattered most. Castiel needed to find Dean, and he was beginning to understand how difficult that task may be.  
He was not a hunter, Castiel didn't know any ways to track a person down that didn't involve rituals and spells. Through everything, Castiel had always been able to rely on some kind of help from heaven, if not aid from other angels then his powers, even when they weren't at their full potential he still had them. Now he had nothing, he was weak and hungry, two sensations he had hoped never to feel again.

Castiel had never been one to blame, well, that's not entirely true, he blamed himself for the pain he caused on earth when he believed he would make a better god. He blamed himself for the pain the leviathan's caused when he released them to earth. He blamed himself for the pain he caused in heaven when he killed all of Raphael's followers. And after seeing the Metatron's spell at work, his brothers, sisters, all of them, falling from grace, knowing that it was his fault. Castiel blamed himself for that too.

I mean, sure Castiel blamed Metatron as well, he was the instigator, but the graceless angel carried most of the guilt, after all, it was his fault. He had been the one who had allowed himself to be manipulated by the scribe. It had been Castiel, not Metatron, who cut the heart out of that Nephlim. It was Castiel, who was now, 100% human. Due to h fact that he was now, indeed, 100% human, Castiel was finding the task of locating Dean Winchester extremely difficult. Dean was good at covering his tracks, even as an angel Cas had had trouble finding him if he didn't want to be found, the fallen angel could only hope that Dean Winchester wanted to be found.

That was why Castiel was now boarding a bus. Busses were familiar, he could almost pretend that he was catching one because his powers were drained, or he was trying to hide from Naomi, rather than face the reality of the fact that he would never feel that power again, never travel to heaven without first dying. Not only were busses familiar, but this bus was heading towards where Castiel hoped Dean would be, if Dean had succeeded in talking Sam down, then Sam would be sick, worse than he had been when the trials were incomplete. So, Castiel hoped, Dean would have taken him back to the bunker, previously owned by the Men of Letters, and that was where Castiel was trying to go, he could only hope that Dean would let him in. He knew that the Winchesters would not want him bringing a bus full of civilians to their recently acquired home, so he had asked the driver to drop him off at the shop he had been at when Metatron first contacted him. The bus didn't make the trip.

About 30 minutes into the drive, two of the passengers, a buff man in his mid forties and a girl who looked about 17, got up from their seats at the front of the bus and walked to the middle, where Castiel was sitting. The girl approached him, leering, "You're an angel, aren't you? One of the fallen?" Castiel pushed himself against he window of the bus, real fear evident in his eyes "I knew it!" she said jumping with excitement, "I told you, didn't I, I said he was. Think about it! An angel we can actually hurt!" The girls eyes flicked black on the word hurt. "Wait, your not, oh my god you are! You're Castiel! They had attracted the attention of the other travellers by this point. The boy who had been sitting opposite Castiel stood,

"Leave the poor guy alone! What did he ever do to you?!" The boy, he couldn't have been older than twelve, glared angrily at the demons.

"What did he do to us?" The female sneered "I'll show you what he did to us."

"No." Cas said, steadily "This, this doesn't involve the child."

"You don't remember me, do you?" Castiel stared at her blankly "Oh, you don't, let me jog your memory. I was about six foot, blonde, screamed a lot. Ringing any bells?

"No." Castiel looked at the boy desperately, begging him to understand. The boy nodded and whispered to the girl in the row in front of him.

"I was on the rack when you came down!" She was animated now focussing her full attention on him. The male hasn't stopped staring at him since he walked over. Neither had noticed what the boy was doing. "I thought you were there to save me! An angel, saving me from hell, but no, you didn't help me, oh no. You saved my tormentor, the guy who had been cutting me open day after day, you saved Dean Winchester."

The boy had reached the door now, he had all eight of the other passengers with him, they were all standing by the driver, waiting for him to press the button for the doors, but the driver hadn't pressed it, he was waiting for a Castiel to give him a signal. Cas turned his attention back to the demons "you should have saved me!" The demon shouted punching Castiel full in the face, sending the angel spiralling to the ground.


	7. Chapter 7

Dean hadn't wanted to leave his brother, but he knew he couldn't sit around doing nothing for much longer. He had been crawling the walls by the third day and Kevin and Crowley's constant arguing hadn't helped, so when he went back through the readings from that night, and found what Gabriel said was the same energy signature that an angel gives off when the zap places, (although Gabriel used a more scientific term) He just had to check it out.

Dean had already tracked Castiel back to a nearby shop, almost completely by accident. He had been on a supplies run when he asked the shop attendant, a scrawny guy who couldn't have been older than 17, if the store had any pie. A statement that the boy responded to by saying "holy crap, not again!" and hid under the counter. After a quick look at the store's security footage Dean realised that Cas hadn't ditched him, if anything he had done the complete opposite, hell if it hadn't been for Metatron Cas probably would have beat up a teenage kid just to get Dean some pie, the hunter couldn't help smiling at that fact, Cas had been trying to make it up to him, he had bought food and porn and everything he knew Dean liked. The knowledge only made Dean feel guiltier for leaving the angel behind.

Following Gabriel's information, and the map he had drawn, Dean was driving down an empty stretch of road in the middle of nowhere, he was about a mile from where Cas might be and he was running low on gas. He figured he may as well turn off to the nearest gas station. That's where he saw the kid, He was about eleven years old, scruffy brown hair and dark eyes. Eyes that were laced with panic.

"ohthankgodifoundsomeoneiwasonthisbusandthischickw hosaidshewasademonatackedthisguyinatrechcoatsaying thathewasanangelandthenwemadearunforitbuttheguytha twaswithhercameafterusandidontthinkanyoneelseisali ve." The boy hadn't taken a breath through he whole speech and Dean had to struggle to keep up, "Wait, what did you say about a guy in a trench coat?"

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

When Dean arrived at the crash site, he was horrified. It wasn't like Dean hadn't seen dead bodies before, he has, obviously, but the bodies littering the street were mangled beyond belief, they were hardly even recognisable. The bus was turned on its side, the roof torn completed off, and there was glass everywhere; but the worst part was Cas, he was being held still by a bald man, who looked to be about forty, his arms locked behind him, Castiel was lashing out with his feet, but it wasn't effecting the young girl that was in front of him. She attacked swiftly with her fists, pounding against Cas's chest until he coughed blood. Then she started to speak, Dean was too far away to hear her, and Cas looked so scared it wrenched Dean's heart, he ran towards the demon, brandishing Ruby's knife, the bald one saw him coming, and through Cas against the road, where he crouched, coughing. Dean glared at the demons who had both turned towards him. "I thought you guys were supposed to be locked down?" Dean taunted, but he was genuinely curious, Crowley had sent all the demons to hide out in hell to try and stop Sam from completing the demon trials.  
"Crowley's not the boss anymore." The girl snarled, glaring at the hunter, "And revenge is back on the menu." She grinned wolfishly. Baldie rushed at Dean, and the hunter was knocked to the ground, stabbing the demon as he landed on top of him. Rolling the body of his chest Dean stood and looked back to the girl. She didn't exactly seem put out by her colleague's death, but Dean had lowered the numbers.  
"What exactly are you getting revenge for here?" he asked, stalling her.  
"A very bad man tortured me every day for a month, I have him to thank for the power I have now, but that doesn't mean I have to like him." She was grinning now circling him threateningly, Dean realised what she was saying just as she lifted he head to the sky and smoked out of her vessel. Dean ran to Castiel,  
"Cas, buddy, thank god you're alive." Dean anxiously hovered over the angel, who responded by looking up at the hunter and coughing up blood. Sirens blared in the distance, "Can you walk?" Castiel took a moment to consider before nodding, grabbing onto Dean's arm for support. Dean half supported half dragged the man back to his car.


	8. Chapter 8

Dean didn't wait for Kevin to open the door, he kicked it down, announcing their arrival to everyone in the cave. Crowley had been in the kitchen, baking what smelt suspiciously like pie. Sam and Gabe were in the upstairs part of the library, and their shoulders brushed against each other as they rushed down the stairs, looks on their faces similar to that of a couple of kids caught doing something they shouldn't be. Kevin had been sitting at the table, angel tablet in one hand and demon in the other, when he heard the unmistakable sound of Dean's impala parking out the front, he had got up to unlock the door when the wood had split and the door had swung backwards. Dean walked in supporting Cas as much as he could, the graceless angel had an arm draped over Dean's shoulder and was using that to support himself, both hunter and angel look exhausted.

"Spare room." Gabriel suggested when he reached them, and Dean nodded.

When Castiel was lying down, Gabriel took a moment to look over his injuries. He had a cracked rib, but that was the worst of his wounds. Crowley poked his head through the door, he was wearing an apron that said 'Kiss The Cook' and his face was covered in flour. "What happened?" he asked stepping into the room, Sam and Kevin quickly followed, crowding the room and smothering Dean. The hunter was about to tell them to get stuffed when Gabriel raised his hand slightly and they all started sliding backwards, the door closing and locking behind them. Leaving only the two angels in the room with Dean.

"Thanks Gabe." Dean finally tore his eyes away from Cas to fully look at Gabriel. The angel had looked fine when Dean had left, a little tired sure, but they all had been. Now he looked ready to drop,

"You look like a walking corpse, man."

"Thanks. Tell me something I don't know."

"The bags under your eyes are quite a delectable shade of purple. What brand is that?"

"Insomnia."

"Nice. Gotta try that some time." Dean laughed, but it was halfhearted, the archangel really did look beat, and if he hadn't been sleeping that was probably going to become an issue.

"I'm fine Dean, you've got way to many people to worry about without adding me to that list,"

Dean ran his hands over his face, "Yeah, I know." Changing the subject slightly he asked, "Can you help him?" Gabriel gave him a look that could only say "I'm a freakin archangel of coarse I can help him" and the trickster leaned over Castiel's still form, pulled off his trench coat and suit jacket, and began unbuttoning his dress shirt, revealing swollen purple bruises on his chest, starting with the worst of his injuries, Gabriel placed a hand over his brothers cracked rib, willing it to heal. The archangel could feel the power running through his fingertips, into Castiel, and the fallen angels ribs mended, Gabriel could see some of the bruising on Castiel's chest start to fade. Gabriel felt like he was swimming, his head ached and his vision was off, starting to go blurry, there were black spots dancing across his eyes and he started to feel light, weightless, he was vaguely aware of someone calling his name, but as the black spots started to grow, his mind faded into darkness.

When Gabriel woke, he glanced around, disoriented. "Gabe, Gabe you there?" The archangel blinked numerous times before sitting up, feeling lightheaded as he did so. "Dean?" he asked, still unsure of his surroundings. "Yep, that's me, now do you mind telling me what the hell just happened!?"  
"What happened?" Gabriel asked as innocently as possible, rubbing his head.  
"You fucking past out on my Gabe, that's what happened, mind explaining why you took a dive for the floor?" Dean's tone was no nonsense, but then, this was Gabriel. Avoiding the question, he asked,  
"How long was I out?" Dean sighed, checking his watch,  
"You just hit the three hour mark."  
"Shit!" was all Gabriel said before running from the room.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Dean follows as Gabriel makes a beeline to Sam's room, bursting through the door without a second thought. Dean gasps as he takes in the sight of his brother. Sam was drenched with sweat and shaking violently, his entire body was glowing, a golden light that was almost translucent. Gabriel rushed to his side placing two fingers on Sam's forehead, immediately the glow faded and Sam rolled over and curled up against the wall, looking peaceful in his sleep. "Gabriel, just how much is Sam relying on you here?" The angel looked up at him wearily, seeming to exhausted to come up with an answer. The hunter shifted his concern to the archangel "Gabriel, how much is this taking out of you? Gabriel met his eyes and Dean was shocked by the brokenness he saw there,  
"Angels draw power from each other, from belief, the more angels, the more power we all have, if the human race didn't worship us then we would not be anything, we would fade with the stories we left behind." Gabriel frowned to himself, "I don't think that made much sense..." He tried again, "my abilities are like batteries, they are charged by heaven. If there is no one in heaven then I have low battery. Basically I'm running on empty, the power I'm using to heal Sam is power that I don't have, but I can't do nothing. Gabriel looked up and met Dean's eyes, an understanding passed between them, something that no words would have been able to convey. They were not going to let Sam die, no matter what the cost.  
"I'm going to go check on Cas," Dean spoke gently, "try and get some rest." Gabriel just nodded, his mind elsewhere. He was asleep minutes after Dean left.


	9. Chapter 9

When Dean had first found out Cas was human, he had worried that he might have potty train him or something, as ridiculous as it sounded, it was a reasonable concern, but an unnecessary one. Castiel seemed to just know those types of thing instinctually, he still got a few things wrong, like when he poured water into his cereal instead of milk, but other than little things like that, Cas just seemed to know. At first it had been hard, Cas and refused to eat, Gabriel had tried to show him that it wasn't all bad, that Gabe ate for fun because food was good, but Cas wasn't buying it. Dean had had to practically shove a burger down his throat before the guy would give up and eat it. He was still a bit scraped and bruised from the demon attack, but it wasn't anything serious.

They had been surprised, but mostly relieved when the fallen had disappeared. As far as people were concerned, it was some Government hoax spun out of control. The only problem with the angels disappearing, was that they left without a trace, with no way of contacting them and no idea if they were even still alive. The team had been growing nervous, Kevin had been trying to translate the part of the angel tablet that said anything about the spell. With no luck.

Cas and Dean had talked to Crowley about what the demons had said, and Sam imputed that Abbadon had been pissed about Crowley being in charge. That was all the information they had, and Crowley hadn't been helpful in deducing what they could have meant.

The fact that the angels had disappeared over night was worrying, but they didn't think there was anything they could do. Gabriel, for his part, didn't seem all that concerned about his family at all, he only thing he ever said on the matter was that angels were quite capable of looking after themselves. Sam and Gabriel had been inseparable since the night Dean had arrived with Cas, and, to be honest, Dean had no objections, the more time the two spent together, the healthier Sam looked and Gabriel said he was getting better at 'charging his batteries'. Besides the only things those two talked about were historic events and what really happened. Dean had no interest in them, but it made his little brother happy, and that's all he cared about.


	10. Chapter 10

_This chapter contains slash (finally) Destiel, so if anyone has anything against that then this fic is not for you, please review. _

* * *

On the same hallway that the shooting range was on, on the opposite side, much to Dean's delight, they had discovered what could only be described as a training room. Weapons of all kinds lined the walls and there were gym matts on sections of the floor. There was a boxing ring was in one corner and three dummies in another, one vampire, one demon and a ...something, actually, unless they had a time machine, there was no way of knowing what the middle dummy had been, it was hardly even a dummy anymore, obviously, whatever it was, someone hadn't like it. As soon as Castiel had fully healed, with Gabriel's help even though Cas and Dean had both objected, Dean had started training him. Dean and Cas had been spending most if their time in that area of the bunker, if he wasn't practicing hand to hand with Cas, then the two of them would be in the shooting range working on Castiel's accuracy. At the moment though, the pair were fighting with small daggers, it was Castiel's weapon of choice, mostly because it was similar to an angel blade, and Cas was quite experienced when it came to those. For the first time, Cas had managed to keep his weapon for longer than three minutes, he was actually putting up a pretty even fight, the ringing of metal crashing on metal was pulsing in Cas's ears, he was starting to sweat, Dean had been working him hard all day, and he could feel his arm getting tired.

A minute it was over, Dean caught him off guard and knocked his knife out of his hand, pushing him over until Dean was lying on top of him. Castiel could feel the hunters breath on his lips, from this position, he could almost count each freckle on Dean's skin.

Castiel presses his lips against the hunters, loosing control for just a split second, Dean stiffened in shock and Castiel quickly pulled away, muttering an apology, standing up, Castiel silently cursed himself, angry that in a split second, he ruined the only good friendship he ever had, as he started to walk away, Dean caught his wrist, whispered, a breathless "Well it's about bloody time." and pulled Castiel into his embrace.

When they finally break apart, gasping for air, Dean whispered "God Cas, you have no idea how long I have been waiting to do that." Pressing his lips urgently on to Castiel's, his tongue wrapping around the angels. Cas responded by moaning deeply against his mouth, the sound so erotic that Dean almost creamed in his pants. "Cas," Dean whimpered, rolling his hips against the fallen angel. Castiel fisted his hair, rubbing his already hard dick against Dean's. Both men pressing up against each other, grinding and moaning simultaneously, Cas had broken their kiss and was now muttering against Dean's neck, his tongue licking and sucking against the hunters throat, and Dean rocked his hips in response.  
"Dean I... " Cas started when they finally broke for air "I've wanted to do this for so long I just..." Dean smashed their lips together, his arms draped around Castiel's neck, fighting desperately for more of the angel "I never thought you knew."  
"Cas.." Dean moaned pushing his hand against Cas's chest, slowly travelling downward, Castiel shuddered at the touch, Dean dropped his pants, and after taking a minute to fumble with his belt buckle, Cas did the same. Rubbing against each other, the two men came simultaneously.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"You really thought I didn't know how you felt?" Dean asked tentatively pulling Castiel's hand into his own

"I thought, maybe, when you we're going to say yes to Michael, you were pushing everyone away, saying the things that you knew would hurt us the most, you kept making sexual comments, telling me to 'blow you' and something about the way I was looking at you, that the last time someone looked at you like that you got laid, I didn't dare to hope..."

"Cas... I..." Dean had been trying to say he was sorry, but Cas kissed him feverishly in response,

"Shhh," he soothed, "I know Dean, you don't need to apologise."


	11. Chapter 11

Other than the two Cas had bumped into, there had hardly been any demon activity that they could track. The boys could only assume that they were sticking to Crowley's orders, lying low so that the Winchesters wouldn't cure them. Garth had arrived at home base yesterday, and they were expecting Charlie any minute. It had been Gabriel's idea to "rally the forces" and Dean had no objections, they needed as much backup as they could muster and he had missed Charlie, the girl had a way of cheering everybody up.

Dean and Castiel were down in the shooting range, Sam had gone to bed because, although he was feeling better, he was still practically useless if he was up for longer than six hours.  
Garth was downstairs, acting as a buffer between Kevin and Crowley, whose arguments had been getting less frequent, but more violent each time. No real damage has been done to either party, yet. Which left Gabriel, alone with nothing to do, but stare at the younger Winchester, even that was getting boring. Seriously, what was so exciting about watching someone sleep? Gabriel was so bored that he was almost falling asleep in his chair, but he couldn't allow himself to do that, he needed to keep at restricted sleeping pattern if he was going to be able to keep Sam alive. The archangel hated the fact that he had to sleep, I mean, what kind of angel needs sleep to restore his energy? He hated feeling this weak. He was useless to Sam, despite what the man might say, if he had been at his full strength he would have been able to completely heal the hunter with a touch! With nothing else to do, Gabriel resorted to opening up Sam's laptop, pausing for a moment when it asked him for a password, he tried 'family' incorrect, Winchester and fuckoffdean got the same result. Smirking Gabriel typed 'Gabriel' and with the archangel grinning in childish delight, the computer logged on.

His excitement only lasted for a second, because when the angel saw what Sam had open on his screen he was thoroughly pissed off. Sam had been researching the fallen, and had left some dumb 'the truth is out there' sci-fi shit website open on his computer. Which really, Gabriel should have been expecting. Sam was a hunter through and through, and research was his thing, besides, it wasn't like Gabriel had given him any reason for not wanting to talk about the angels, whenever Sam brought it up Gabe changed the subject, and Sam, being the guy that he is, figured Gabriel would tell him in his own time, the archangel was extremely grateful for that. Of course Sam had no way of knowing that Gabriel would hack on to his computer and see what was currently open on his screen. And if he had tried to hide what he was looking at Gabe would have been pissed. To tell you the truth, the reason Gabe didn't like to talk about his family, he was disappointed. Not with Cassie though, he had always felt extremely protective of the little guy, even when the humans were still fish, he remembered warning his brother not to harm them. He just wanted to keep him safe, make sure he was on the right track, when he started to notice the corruption taking over his brothers and sisters, he ran from heaven, he couldn't face the way they were treating each other, what they had become. Yes it was cowardice, but honesty it was the only thing he could think of to do. Hearing from Dean about what his family had done this past apocalypse only made him glad he hadn't been a part of it. Following that, what his brothers had done with the freedom little Cas had tried to give them, I mean, he wasn't a saint, running off and joining the pagan's probably wasn't the best idea, but still, unsinking the Titanic, really? And even what Castiel had done, Gabriel knew that Dean had sugar coated that part for him, the amount of times he had said "he thought he was doing he right thing" Gabe knew it was a lot worse than the elder Winchester had let on. And after all of that, Naomi had been screwing with his garrisons heads from even before he left, manipulating their memories and forcing them to do unthinkable things. Yeah, Gabriel was disappointed, but mostly he was ashamed. And he didn't want to talk about it.

The archangel opened a new tab and searched for 'unusual deaths' in nearby towns, he spent three hours searching before he actually found anything. A priest had gone awol and murdered three nuns as well as his wife and daughter in a small town, about twenty miles north of the bunker. It seemed worth checking out. Gabriel closed the news site he was on and with a quick glance at that sci-fi shit, turned of the computer.

Gabriel was about to enter the training room when he heard a gunshot, figuring Dean and Castiel must be in the shooting range, Gabriel continued down the hall. When he got to the large black door that led to the range, he heard murmured voices, quietly opening the door, Gabriel saw something he to put it lightly, wasn't expecting.

Castiel was wearing his usual attire,with his backwards tie and black suit pants, the trench coat was on a seat nearby. He had his sleeves rolled up and was holding a standard issue hand gun, also known as a 'cop gun'. Dean was standing behind him, hand over Castiel's own adjusting the position Cas was holding he gun. He was leaning over the graceless angel with his other arm wrapped around his waist, fingers creeping lower. Gabriel back tracked, stepping quietly out of the room and closing the door. he walked back a few steps and called "Dean? You in there?" before proceeding to open the door once again. This time Cas was a few feet in front of the hunter, without one part of their bodies touching. Castiel put he gun away as Dean walked up to Gabriel  
"What's up?" he asked calmly  
"I think I found a job." Gabriel responded trying to keep the shock out of his voice, he didn't really have any reason to be surprised, he had always known they were close, but he had had no idea that they, I mean it was his brother, little Cassie. Gabriel honestly didn't know what to make of the situation, and that doesn't happen often. Realising that Dean was saying something Gabriel re focused.  
"...should work out." Dean looked at him expectantly.  
"Um, yeah it should...work." Gabriel responded having no idea what Dean had been referring to.  
"You weren't listening to a word I just said were you?" Dean stated  
"Guilty." Gabe grinned, returning their usual routine.  
Castiel came back over, subtly brushing his fingers against Dean's, thinking that Gabriel wouldn't notice. "What have you found?" Castiel asked his brother  
"Priest goes crazy kills his wife, daughter and three nuns on a homicidal rampage, claims not to remember anything." Gabriel explained  
"Sounds like a possession to me." Dean agreed


	12. Chapter 12

Sam had woken up as Dean and Castiel were about to leave, and, being Sam, he wouldn't let them go without him. Of course, if Sam was going then Gabriel had to come as well. Taking another ten minutes to get ready, they met Charlie on their way out the door. So naturally she joined the expedition. Garth had been trying to tag along, but Dean drew the line at five, the only way he could convince the kid to stay was to pull him to the side and say "Garth, man you're a great hunter, and I'd love it if you came, but I really need someone back here, you know, can't leave Kevin and Crowley alone together. I need someone with smarts to keep 'em away from each other." The young hunter responded by saluting and telling Dean that he was the man for the job. Dean felt a little guilty leaving the kid, but five was enough for one hunt and he did need someone watching Kevin.

They ended up taking two cars, Charlie went with Gabriel and Sam in the old Ford that Charlie had arrived in, and Dean and Castiel were in the Impala. When they arrive, it's already past midnight. They booked three hotel rooms, one for Cas and Gabe, one for Dean and Sam and one for Charlie. Well, that had been the plan, Sam had crashed within minutes of their arrival, but Dean was too hyphenated on the coffee he had been drinking so that he could stay awake for the drive. He turned on the tv, but as soon as it started to glow to life Sam moaned and muttered at him to turn it off, Dean complied. After cleaning three of his guns, Dean decided to see if Charlie was still awake.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Cas can you pass the popcorn?"  
"Gabriel, please remove your feet from my stomach."  
"Geez lighten up Cas, here you go Charlie."  
Dean opened the door to Charlie's room cautiously "Guys...?"  
"Dean!" Cas's voice sounded so relieved Dean almost laughed, when he turned the light on though, he couldn't help himself. The three of them had dragged the two beds in Charlie's room up against each other so they had what could be mistaken for a double bed, Charlie was sitting cross legged at the end of the first bed, her eyes watching the television, she had a giant bowl of popcorn in her lap and seemed to be the only one eating it. Cas was lying in the middle, almost falling down the crack between the beds, a look of panic on his face as he slipped further down. Gabriel was lying horizontally across the bed, his legs stretched across Castiel's chest, he grinned and waved at Dean and soon joined in with his laughter, Charlie was quick to follow. Cas had a look of fear and confusion on his face as he asked again sounding more betrayed then relieved "Dean?" as though he couldn't figure out why they were all laughing. Which, naturally, just made them all laugh harder.

When they finally sobered up, Charlie held a DVD case up at Dean "We were about to introduce Cas to Star Trek, care to join?" Dean laughed again, grinning  
"Wouldn't miss it."


	13. Chapter 13

"Well, thank you for your time Mrs Sutton, if we find anything, we'll let you know."  
Dean spoke gently to the grieving woman, even if she was a bit strange, she didn't appear to be involved. He stood up from her floral couch, Cas following, the graceless angel handed her the tissue box that had been sitting on her coffee table,  
"Thank you," The two men turned to leave "It's just, I don't understand how my brother could do that. I mean, he'd always been crazy, talking about demons and possession and all, you don't think he was right do you, are demons real? Do you think my brother was possessed?"  
Dean faked a smile, "Of course not Mrs Sutton," Cas frowned at him "Demons aren't real. You haven't noticed any sulphur around here have you? Smells like rotten eggs, it's a yellow powder."  
"No, I haven't... what agency did you say you were from again? Laura Sutton inquired, frowning "West consent." Dean answered smiling sweetly, practically backing towards the door.  
"Did you brother mention anything else about demons or possession?" Castiel asked as Dean glared at him and indicated towards the door, Cas pretended not to notice.  
"No, only that that meteor shower couple of weeks back were fallen angels, and that he was hiding one in his basement." Dean raised his eyebrows.  
"And did the police find anything in his basement?"  
"What? No! My brother was a whack job, you don't actually think he had an angel in his basement?"  
"Of course not, well thanks again, we should be going now." Dean looked at Cas in a very not subtle way "Shouldn't we Agent Gray?  
"Certainly, just one last question, did your brother ever go away for long periods of time, a week maybe two, did he hunt? Your brother, did he ever go on hunting trips with a friend or neighbour?" The boys face was so innocent and genuinely curious that Laura refrained from hitting him  
"My brother was a priest, he didn't shoot Bambi, Now I think you should get out of my house."  
The two men practically ran out her door.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"What the hell was that?" Dean questioned as the pair walked down the women's front steps.  
"What was what?" Cas asked,  
"That! The whole was your brother a hunter crap" The boys were standing by the Impala now. Castiel's hand was on the door handle.,  
"I was just trying to find out what was going on." Dean muttered something unintelligible under his breath.  
"Look Dean, I'm sorry if I'm not the perfect hunter, I've been human for what, one month? I'm not good at this stuff Dean, I never was! At least back then I was someone! I was an angel, I had my garrison. I got my orders and I followed them."  
"Cas, I..." Castiel shook his head, a single blood red tear rolling down his cheek.  
"And then you, you came and you showed me that I didn't have to follow those orders, that sometimes those orders were wrong, you showed me a way out, and you know what the worst part is Dean, I wanted to take it. I betrayed my family and everything they meant and we stopped the apocalypse. I am not a good person Dean don't you understand that? Every decision I've made with my own free will has ended in death, I think there was a reason angels weren't supposed to have a choice. I have murdered and..." Cas choked back a sob "Dean you have no idea what I've done, I don't even know all of it. I have nightmares Dean, I thought they were just dreams but they're not, they're memories, Dean the things I've done, I..." Castiel let out a broken sob, and Dean stepped towards him, wrapping his arms around the weeping man, holding him. After a few minutes, Cas recovered, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Even as a human I'm still a freak." he whispered bitterly when his fingers came back soaked in blood. Dean remained silent.  
Castiel sighed, he stepped away from the car and started walking in the opposite direction.  
"Cas where are you going?" Dean called after him. The graceless angel threw his arms in the air and pointed in the general direction of the main road,  
"That way." At that he stared to run and Dean figured the angel needed to let off some steam so he let him go.


	14. Chapter 14

_Just FYI As far as my story is concerned, the supernatural fandom is exactly the same as it is now, but with the fics and pictures based off the book series by Carver and Gabriel might just be fans ;)_

* * *

Castiel soon learned that his human body did not take liquor as well as it had when he was an angel. Sitting at some low life bar at the edge if town, Cas had nothing better to do than test just how much alcohol his body could take. Admittedly Castiel wasn't particularly fond of beer or alcohol in general, he found the substance to be quite bitter, but it helped him forget about one particular man that seemed to be on his mind far more than he should be.

Last night had been entertaining, actually it was probably the most fun Cas had had in his life. It had been pretty awkward before Dean had arrived, Charlie and Gabriel spent the whole time talking about something called 'fanfiction' their conversation went something like this;

**Charlie: **Come on! how can you have watched the original series and not believe that spirk is cannon?  
**Gabriel:** I'm not saying its not, I'm just saying I don't ship it.  
**Charlie: **So what do you ship? Come on you have to have something!  
**Gabriel:** I'm just not really that in to Star Treck, if Zachary Quinto wasn't in this movie I wouldn't be watching it  
_Charlie raised her eyebrows_  
**Charlie:** So what fandoms do you belong to oh angelic one?  
**Gabriel:** Shut up! I might ship Johnlock, and Janto  
**Charlie:** Everyone ships Johnlock and Janto is canon! Gabe you've gotta give me something here!  
**Gabriel:** Nine/Rose and Ten/Rose  
_Charlie looked at him pointedly _  
**Gabriel: **I'm a sucker for Sabriel, there I said it, happy?  
_At this point Charlie leapt from the bed and practically danced around the room_  
**Charlie: **I knew it! I knew it!  
_she sat back down at the end of the bed leaning towards the archangel _  
**Charlie:** Thoughts on Destiel?  
_Gabriel grinned, looked over at his little brother, obviously very pleased that Cas has no idea what they were talking about_  
**Gabriel: **Canon.  
_Charlie gasped putting her fist in her mouth so that she wouldn't shout_  
**Charlie:** OMTL I FUCKING KNEW IT  
**Gabriel:** Didn't everyone? Let's actually watch this movie, you can point out all the Spirk  
_he winked and lay across the bed, resting his legs on Castiel's stomach_  
**Charlie:** Cas can you pass the popcorn?  
**Castiel:** Gabriel, please remove your feet from my stomach.  
**Gabriel:** Geez lighten up Cas, here you go Charlie.  
_That was when Dean arrived, saving Castiel from his brother_  
**Dean:** Guys...?  
**Castiel:** Dean!

The rest of that evening was spent watching the movie, as Charlie had promised, by the end of the film Gabriel admitted to 'shipping' something called 'Spirk' and Charlie laughed at him. Dean seemed just as confused as Cas, which the angel found comfort in. Dean spent most of the movie lying next to Castiel, growing progressively closer as the film went on, but the time the movie was over, Dean's shoulder was rubbing up against Cas and they were holding hands under he covers. Charlie-

"Do you want a refill?" The bartender asked, snapping Castiel back into the present.  
"Yes, thank you." The gruff man simply huffed in response.  
"I'll have what he's having." A man in his mid thirties said as he sat on the stool next to Castiel. The bartender merely rolled his eyes in response. "Miles, and you are?" When he realised the question was directed at himself, Castiel responded with  
"James, but most people call me Jimmy." Not wanting to go thought the ordeal of trying to explain his name to the stranger.  
"Well it's nice to meet you Jimmy, are you new to town? I'm sure I would have remembered a face like that." The compliment was lost on Castiel  
"I'm just passing through." The man nods, looking down as the bartender passes him his drink.  
"Look, buddy, no offence, but you look like you could really use some cheering up." Miles suggested, pulling two rolls of god knows what out of his pocket, putting one in his mouth, he held the other out to the angel.  
"Fuck it." Castiel mutters and lights up the joint.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

The rest of the night passed in a mixture of smoke and sweat. Castiel vaguely remembers dancing with (or to be more accurate, humping) the guy from the bar. After a few hours of dancing and drinking, Cas couldn't help thinking about what Dean would think if he saw him like this, the thought made him sick, so he went back to the bar and ordered far too much alcohol than a human should consume. Half an hour later, his throat was dry and he felt like his stomach was churning, Castiel stumbled towards the back door of the bar. It opened out into a cold alleyway, out of view from the main street, there were flyers littering the ground advertising some band and two dumpsters up against the south wall. The whole alley was covered in graffiti.

Realising he was about to puke less than a second before he did so Cas hunched over beside the door, gripping the wall for support. It wasn't long after that the door opened and the man from the bar stepped out, making a beeline towards Castiel, when he kissed the angel Castiel was more surprised than aroused. The man pressed him against the alley wall, his lips pressing roughly against Castiel's, he was desperately shoving his tongue down the angels throat, grinding against him as he did so. Cas groaned deeply and thrusted back, still pinned against the wall, he forced his mind to stop thinking about Dean, focussing on the man in front of him, the man, Miles he'd said his name was, was tall, about 6 '2 and broad shouldered, he was well muscled, although not as strong as Dean, his knuckles were clean and his hands were soft, although giving the appearance of being 'buff' the man looked like he had never been in a real fight in his life. Castiel wrapped his hands through the mans dark hair, pressing their lips closer. One of Miles's hands was on his waist, the other undoing the belt on his jeans, Dean's jeans, he was wearing a belt because they were too big, but of everyone at the bunker, Dean's cloths were the closet fit. Miles pushed them around his ankles and wrapped his hand against Castiel's cock, enticing an embarrassing moan from the angels mouth. Miles crouched on the path, Castiels hands still in his hair. Pressing his mouth against Castiel's hard dick, he licked and sucked up the angels shaft, cupping Cas's balls in his hand, Miles rubbed his face against the angel, Castiel moaned and came in the other mans throat. Miles swallowed and smiled at Castiel, Cas half smiled back, pulling up his pants, Castiel winced as they rubbed against his sensitive cock. Miles waved and walked towards the car park leaving Castiel alone in the alley. Cas puked again, and this time, it wasn't because of the alcohol.

Castiel sat in that alley for the next hour, his mind rehashing the events of the night, recalling a point where he had been sitting at an empty booth when an older guy, maybe in his late forties approached him. He had said that Castiel looked like someone had just shot his puppy and offered him something to "help him relax" he said for someone who looked like that, this was for free. Cas gratefully accepted. Checking his pockets now, Cas found the pills the man had sold him, swallowing two of them dry, the angel went back inside.


	15. Chapter 15

Dean had been driving around aimlessly for three hours, and had somehow ended up parked outside the shadiest looking bar he had ever seen. It was called the 'Fl m ng T ' or at least, that's all Dean could make out from the flashing sign he could see above the door. Figuring he may as well give it a shot, Dean entered the bar.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

The rest of Cas's night was passed in a blur of smoke and pills, Castiel spent most of his time in that same booth, with a joint in his hand and a beer on the table, at least, that was the position Dean found him in.

The fear and sadness in the hunters eyes when he saw Cas was enough to make anyone weep, as it was, Cas simply sat in his booth, hardly even noticing Dean's presence. For a moment Dean just stood there, staring at his friend. Until the smoke in the room spurred him into action.

"No, no this isn't happening, I won't let it. Dean shook his head practically dragging Castiel out of the bar. Cas in his drunken mind, thought it would be best to try and reason with the him. "Dean, 'snot that big of a deal, only took one hit." Cas slurred.  
"Cas get in the car." The hunter growled grabbing Castiel's arm roughly, the angel shook him off,  
"Hey what's your problem man? I took one hit, it's not the end of the world." Dean just closed his eyes, his head shaking, like he was trying to pretend this wasn't real. When Dean finally looked at Cas, his eyes were so broken that the graceless angel would have done anything he asked.  
"I promised myself I'd never let you become that." his eyes were pleading, "Please Cas, don't let me break that promise." The brokenness in the hunters voice scared Castiel more than he was willing to admit. He opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat, looking expectantly up at he hunter, Dean sighed, and climbed into the car after him.


	16. Chapter 16

Castiel woke the next morning with a groan, the angel was fully and uncomfortably dressed in the previous nights clothing, belt and all. Taking a minute to familiarise himself with his surroundings Cas discovered that he was back at the motel, in Dean's bed, rolling over he saw that Sam's was vacant next to him. When he sat upright holding his head in his hands as he did so. "Fuck." Getting up from the bed took longer than it should have, but Castiel somehow managed to stumble into the bathroom. Searching the cabinet for aspirin, Cas found nothing but a razor and a pair of toothbrushes. "Fuck." Eyeing the duffle bags at the end of the room, Castiel continued his search. The first duffle kinked when he went to pick it up, so, figuring it contained nothing but weapons Castiel tried the other bag. After finding nothing but cloths in the first bag, Cas looks down at the shirt he is still wearing from last night, it smells like smoke and whiskey, and there is a white powdery stain across the front. Grabbing a black undershirt, a pair of pale blue jeans and a navy blue over shirt, he heads back into the bathroom

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

After fleshing up, Castiel resumes his search, although his headache has subsided slightly, the light from the window was far to bright for his liking. Holding his hand over his eyes, Castiel was crouched over the other duffle when Gabriel (strutted/waltzed/walked) into the cheap room. "Whatcha looking for?" Cas squints at his brother with half closed fingers covering his eyes.  
"Aspirin." he groans in response, looking through the duffle pointlessly. Gabriel huffs a short spurt of hoarse laughter. "Cassie..." he began with a condescending tone "What the hell did you get up to last night?" looking at the his older brother Castiel stood silent. Changing the subject, Castiel asked "Where are the Winchesters?" concern practically leaked out of the archangels eyes, Gabriel had obviously noticed the subject change, but the silent pleading in his brothers eyes told him not to push the matter.  
"Sam's in my room, sleeping. Dean was gone when I woke up." Gabriel lied, he hadn't slept a wink last night.  
"Do you know where he went?" Castiel asked, and Gabriel, not wanting to crush the hope that had risen in his brothers eyes responded with a simple;  
"No, I think he was just finishing up a few things with that women you talked to yesterday." Gabriel explained, lying through his teeth. Castiel laughed in that broken and bittersweet way that people have  
"I don't think he'd be going back to that house anytime soon." he said shaking his head  
Gabriel started to respond, saying a few words before he realised his little brother wasn't listening  
"What is it?"  
"Something the sister, Mrs Sutton, said, I was... distracted earlier, but she mentioned that her brother was keeping a fallen angel in his basement." Gabriel looked up  
"Did she say who?"  
"No, she didn't believe him, thought he was a whack job." Castiel answered and Gabriel smiled at his brothers choice of words "How long can Sam go without you?"  
"Cassie... shouldn't you, I don't know, wait for Dean or something. It's just..." Gabriel looked at his brother who was staring at him with those big blue eyes "He can probably go a couple of hours." Cas grinned "but no more, okay, that's all, just three hours." the younger angel nodded, trying to hide how pleased he was with his brothers decision.


	17. Chapter 17

_Thank you to everyone who's reviewed the previous chapters, Sorry for not posting this one for a while, I had no idea what to do with Dean so I've been watching Pac-Man Fever and Sacrifice over and over again. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review!_  
_

"Cas there's nothing here." Gabriel whined, exasperated, the younger angel elected to ignore him, looking fruitlessly around the basement "There is nothing in this place, but jars of..." holding one of the said jars by his fingertips, Gabriel looked at it disdainfully "Whatever the hell that is, seriously though, what is that?" Castiel turned from the shelves he was going through,  
"I believe it's pickled wormwood."  
"You can pickle wormwood?"  
"Apparently."  
"Come on Cassie, this place is a dead end, look around, there's nothing here! Did you try calling Dean?" Gabriel asked, anxious to get back to Sam.  
"Voicemail, I'll try again." Holding the phone awkwardly to his ear, he heard the familiar sound of Dean's voice.  
**This is Dean Winchesters direct cell, you should not have this number.**  
Cas looked back at his brother, shaking his head. Gabriel mouthed something at him that Castiel couldn't make out."What?"  
"I said leave him a message!" looking bewilderedly at the phone Cas frowned and held the device towards himself with the speakers pointing at his mouth.  
"Um... hello?"  
"Oh for Christ's sake give me the phone." Castiel was happy to oblige. "Dean, hey, Gabe hear, we're at the priests house, looks clean, no sign of sulpha or emf. Definitely no angels, maybe he was just a whack job? Anyway we're heading back to the motel, reckon you can meet us there? I thought.. SHIT!" Gabriel swore as he turned to see Cas on the floor surrounded by about eight demons, not that he had much time to count, because almost as soon as he turned around there was a boot (size nine if anyone cares) smashing against his face.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Your break." Dean explained holding a cue out for Charlie  
"Right, yeah..." she lined up her cue with the white ball, "I still don't see why I need to learn this, I have much easier, and safer I might add, ways of earning money."  
"What, hacking? Nope, no way. You want to be a hunter, you've got to be able to earn money the hunter way."  
"Does the 'hunter way' have to be playing pool against a bunch of fat sleazy bikers?"  
"It does." Dean smiled, which was a relief considering the expression that was on his face a few hours earlier.  
"So, you feeling better now?" Charlie asked, concerned.  
"Yeah, I am, thanks Charlie."  
"Hey, what are friends for if its not stopping each other from having untimely panic attacks." Dean laughed and Charlie soon joined in.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

_three hours earlier..._

Whatever you do, you will always end up... here.  
Whatever you do  
you will always  
end up...  
here.  
here

"No."

Cas looked over at Dean when he spoke, rolling his eyes when he realised the hunter was talking to himself. Dean's knuckles were white against the steering wheel, gripping it tightly like he was trying to hold on to what was real. Every breath he took was sharp and shallow, but he still felt like he wasn't getting enough air into his lungs. Dean begun to chant in his mind no no no no no no over and over, just one word, Lucifer's words from all those years ago echoing in his mind  
whatever you do  
no  
you will always  
no  
end up  
no no no  
here  
**no**  
Dean was hyperventilating now, his breaths coming in rasps of air that never seemed to actually fill his lungs. He was less than a minute out from the motel and by the time he got there he couldn't move. He stayed paralysed in his seat when Cas rolled his eyes and climbed out of the car. He still didn't move when he heard Gabriel asking Cas where he was. Dean heard Cas mutter something along the lines of "he's nuts 'cause I'm drunk." in response. Charlie and Gabriel looked at each other and then back to Castiel  
"Is he in the car?" Charlie asked frowning at the fallen angel. Cas nodded, his head bouncing up and down like some kids do when they're trying to be serious, before collapsing on the nearest bed he could find.

"Dean?" Gabriel called as he approach the impala opening the drivers side door "Hey, Dean what's going on?" Dean couldn't speak, he just looked at the archangel, his hands still gripping the steering wheel. Gabriel was taken back by how scared and broken the hunter looked. Dean was looking up at him with those big green eyes, trying his best to control his breathing. "Dean." Gabriel said, his voice softening "What's wrong?" Dean just shook his head, not able to respond.  
"Dean is this because of what you saw in 2009?" Charlie stepped in and Gabriel moved out of her way. Dean, still staring out the front windshield, nodded slowly. "Dean that won't happen, it can't happen. Look at me Dean, Bobby's not around to get shot, he's doesn't even have the wheelchair anymore, hell, he doesn't have a house to get shot in!"  
"Details." Dean said quietly, gritting his teeth.  
"No, not details Dean, Chuck is dead, is that another detail? You stopped the Croatoan virus from getting out, look around, are you surround by Croats? 'cause I'm not. Sam's alive Dean, he's just in there, and more importantly Lucifer is not getting out of the cage. Come on Dean you've already stopped this! Don't let Zachariah screw with you when he's not even here. You've changed more than a few details, it's all different now, Cas is different and he doesn't have to be like that. We're not going to let that happen." Dean nodded, biting his lip and looking up to stop his tears from brimming over, slowly, he released his grip on the steering wheel.  
"Is Sam awake?" Dean asked, looking at Gabriel. The archangel shook his head,  
"Nup, kid can't stay vertical for more than a couple of hours at a time. Dean nodded again,  
"I'm going to go for a drive... Thanks Gabe."  
"Don't mention it."  
"I'll go with you." Charlie offered  
"You don't have to, really, I'm okay."  
"I know." she said climbing into the passenger seat next to him "That not why I want to come."

**X-X-X-X-X-X**  
_now..._

"Charlie you do realise you're the bigs..?"  
"I realise, I was aiming for that one. " Charlie defended, pointing at a yellow ball on the other side of the table. Dean huffed in amusement "Hey! At least I got one in, why are they called bigs anyway, they've got less colour than the other ones." Dean shook his head, laughing, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, remembering that it had beeped at him earlier.  
"Missed call." he told Charlie when he noticed her watching eyes,  
"Oooh, who's it from?" she asked, coming around to his side of the table and peering over the hunters shoulder.  
"Cas." He said putting the phone on speaker and playing the message, he could always turn it off if it got too personal.  
"What?" Cas's voice asked, obviously not talking to Dean  
"I said leave him a message!" Gabriel's voice came shouting down the phone line  
"Um... hello?" Castiel's voice was muted, like he wasn't holding the phone quite right, and Dean couldn't help smiling at his lack of technical knowledge.  
"Oh for Christ's sake give me the phone." Gabriel's voice again, getting louder as he must have been walking closer to the phone. "Dean, hey, Gabe hear, we're at the priests house, looks clean, no sign of sulpha or emf. Definitely no angels, maybe he was just a whack job? Anyway we're heading back to the motel, reckon you can meet us there? I thought... SHIT!" Dean jumps as he hears a crash in the background, like glass breaking, before the message ends abruptly and the line goes dead. Dean didn't say anything, just grabbed his jacket off the stool it had been lying on and practically ran out of the bar. Charlie followed.


	18. Chapter 18

_Knights of Hell are hand-picked by Lucifer himself. They are of the first-fallen, first-born demons. Legend has it that Archangels had killed all of them, which, as we have witnessed, is not the case. ~ Henry Winchester_  
_

When Gabriel came to, he was tied to a pole with his hands behind his back. He was gagged and positioned on the ground with his legs splayed out in front of him. Looking around, Gabriel saw that he was in some kind of church. Searching the church for his brother Gabriel saw that Cas was chained to a wall medieval style, with his arms and legs stretched in the shape of a star. His hands and ankles were bound with shackles that had carvings etched into them, probably something to stop angel magic, not that cas had any. He was wearing nothing but a pair of ill fitting jeans and his torso was covered in slashes. All the way up his body Cas had diagonal gashes etched into his skin. Blood was pouring from his wounds. There was a redhead leaning over him, whispering something in his ear. She turned when she sensed that Gabe was moving, her eyes turning black as she hissed at him.

**Knight**.

Gabriel glared at the knight, his golden eyes flashing with anger as she approached him. "Now now, there's no need to be like that Gabriel." Even the simple way she said his name sent waves of hatred throughout the archangel. "I've missed you, we used to have such fun. Tell me Gabriel, how does it feel to know that you failed your father?"

**Abbadon**.

Cas groaned in pain and Abbadon smiled, turning away from Gabriel. She walked across the room to where Cas was tied. "You always liked this one, didn't you Gabriel? You were so overprotective of him. Always making sure that little Castiel was safe. I'm going to enjoy tearing him apart." She picked a razor from the table and sliced it across Cas's torso. To his credit, Cas didn't cry out or moan, he just looked down at his feet, his body shaking. Gabriel flinched, hating how powerless he was to stop her. "How times have changed since then, I'm the queen of hell and you're, well, you fell from grace a long time ago." She stepped forward, slicing a criss cross pattern on Cas's chest.

Queen?

This is my fault

I'm the reason she's still alive

This is my fault

Why am I letting her do this?

As that thought went through Gabriel's mind the door to the warehoused exploded inwards, Dean stepping through the wreckage. He was holding a bottle containing a liquid of some sort, he threw it at Abbadon glass shattering upon impact and her skin hissed at its touch. "Really Dean, you think holy water is enough to stop me?"  
"No," Dean said, flicking his lighter and throwing it at Abbadon. "But this will." Abbadon shrieked as the holy oil that had coated her body caught fire. She shimmered and zapped away, probably to the middle of the ocean. Three other demons stepped out from the shadows. "Charlie now!" Dean shouted and Charlie smashed the fire alarm and set off the sprinklers, the holy water sizzling the demon's skin. Dean rushed at the closet one and tackled it to the ground, Charlie stayed at the doorway, but Sam came running in holding a sawn off shotgun in his hands. He fired a few shots at the demon that had been running at him, but it kept coming and Sam ran out of rounds, he tossed the gun and it slid towards Charlie, who was fending off the third demon with a water pistol, presumably holding holy water. The demon dragged Sam to the floor and the hunter pulled out Ruby's knife and stabbed him before they hit the ground. He slid the knife across the floor to where Dean was still wrestling with the first demon, Dean managed to pick it up and stab the demon above him. He looked around briefly and saw that the demon Charlie was fighting was closing in on her, he threw the knife and it hit the demon square between its shoulder blades. It's knees buckled and it fell to the ground. Sam was behind Gabriel, cutting through his binds and pulling of the gag. "You okay?" Gabe asked Sam quickly sparing him a quick glance, Sam nodded and Gabriel got up and ran to his brother. Dean was already by his side cutting Cas down from where he was pinned. Castiel slouched, putting all his weight on Dean's shoulder. Gabriel rushed to his brothers side and immediately put his hand to Cas's chest healing the deepest wounds first. Soon there was nothing but pale white scars that quickly faded. Dean gripped Cas tightly in a hug, and then started inspecting every inch of his angels body for a mark or scratch. Discovering two thick ugly scars protruding from Cas's back, Dean turned to Gabriel, "Can't you heal them?" Gabe shook his head,  
"Wings scars never fully heal. That's basically all we know for sure about them." The archangel explained.  
"But... Anna, she fell, and she didn't have scars, I don't understand..." Dean trailed off.  
"She fell with her grace intact. It survived the fall and she was able to go back to her angelic form. My grace was destroyed when Metatron completed the spell, my wings have been ripped from my body forever."  
"Cas..." Dean slipped his fingers around Cas's hand and squeezed gently. Sam passed Cas the black undershirt he had been wearing earlier, it was a bit bloodied at the collar, from when the demons had first attacked, but it covered his scars and Cas nodded at Sam gratefully before slipping it on.  
Dean stared into Cas's eyes, conveying the emotions he had yet to put into words. Cas stared back. Gabriel and Charlie watched with almost as much enthusiasm as the pair, although Gabe was swaying slightly from exhaustion "Let's go get something to eat, who's up for Arby's?" Sam asked speaking pointedly at Charlie and Gabe.  
"I'm okay" Gabriel muttered, not even turning to look at the hunter.  
"Me too," Charlie said, still watching Dean and Cas like a hawk.  
"Alright, that's enough ogling for one day, let's go." Sam said, grabbing both Charlie and Gabriel by the shoulders as they protested and leading them out of the building.


End file.
